Method of reducing ores.



G. F. RENDALL.

METHOD or nnnuonw om.

APPLICATION FILED 513.23, 1906.

Patented Nov. 10,1908.

UITED STESPATENT- OFFICE.

GEORGE F. RENDALL, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO AMERICAN REDUCTION COMPANY,

A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

METHOD OF BEDUCING BES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nev. 1o, 190e.

Application aia April as, moe. sei-nino. 313,123.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE F. RENDALL, a subject of the King of Great Britain, residing in the city, county, and'State of New York, have invented a new and useful Method of Reducing Orcs, lowing is a specification.

My present invention consists of a novel process for reducing ore to a metalloid without reducing 'the silioious content, the ore being retained in its original form and furthermore no flux is required in the reducing operation. My invention further consists of a novel process in which I employ a gas, whicli eliminates the deleterious material and leaves the ore and the metal contained there- 1n in a natural and unoxidized condition.

Another novel cfeature of my present method is the manner in which the silica is eliminated; 'this being effected at a very nommal expense by the emplo ment of clean water, acting on the materia in a suitable tank or water concentrator.

Another novel feature of my present method 1s the discharging of the ore in its heated condition from the furnace directly into a tank or cistern of water, thereby dismtegrating the material.

In the accompanyin drawing, I have shown a diagrammatica view of one form of an apparatus, which may be employed to advantage in carrying out my present method, although it will be apparent that other structures than the one shown and otherwise correlated and arranged may be employedaccording to the conditions and re uirements.

n carrying out my novel process, I proceed as follows z-The ore to be treated is first placed in a furnace 1, of any suitable or conventional type and in this furnace it is heated to a low incandescent heat without changing the structural form of the ore, or forming afiux. While in this condition, the material in tlie furnace is subjected to a current of gas produced in a gas retort, said gas being produced either by the decompositlon of Water or directl from wood, the object being to passinto t le furnace at afhigh temerature, a 'gas containing an excess of hy-` oglen over oxygen. The mineral contents of t e ore'in the furnace under these conditions do not..bec`ome oxidized and lremain in a pure condition as small metallic globules of which the folditions it requires, to complete the entire operation, only from thirty to forty minutes, by which time all of the volatile substances contained in the ore such as zinc, sulfur, arsenic and antimony are eliminated. uThe heavier metals such as copper, iron, old, silver and lead remain in the ore in the crm of metallic globules.

The furnace is preferabl provided with a hopper 3 and a plnrality o valves 3 and 4 in the charge ipe whereby the -charge may be transmitted) to the furnace without the admission of a material amount of atmos heric air. After th'e ore has been heate and treated'as has been stated, the bottom of the furnace is removed'and theentire furnace content is discharged into water contained in a cistern or tank such as 6. The shock due to the sudden change of temperature in the material causes the ore to be disintegrated and become exceedingly brittle.l This disintegrated mass then passes to a suitable conveyer 7 by means of which it is raised to a suitable height. It then passes through rollers or Crushers 8 of any usual or conventional type, although it will be apparent. that the material may pass from the water tank 6 by natural gravity to the crusher 8 depending upon the natural condi-tions and requirements in the erection of the apparatus.

After passing through the rollers or crusher 8 ,J

ghter contents of the material, said silioious and lighter portions being discharged from the water concentrator 10 through a suitable pipe 12. After the silioious andlighter contents have been removed from the mass, the product may be withdrawn into the discharge vat, this product now being an entirely pure metalllc product.

It will be apparent to those skilled in this art that ,b the use of my novel method, the cost of re ucing the metallic contents of an ore is reduced rto a minimum and that the metallic product obtained will'be free from all undesirable and deleterious compounds, and thus be in a very pure condition.

Having thus described my invention, what I- claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The rocess of reducin the contents of an ore, w ch consists in st, heating the ore, then treating the ore )with a current of heated gas containing hydrogen in excess of oxygen until all volatile and deleterious compounds are removed, and then discharging the heated material into Water in order to disintegrate'said material, and then discharging said material into contact with a current of ascending Water.

2. The process lof reduclng the contents of an ore, which consists in first heating the ore,

then eliminating all volatile and deleteriousY nace contents into water, then crushing the' material, and then subjecting theproduct to a current of ascending Water until all the silicious and lighter particles are removed.

4. The process of reducing the contents of an ore which consists in first heating the ore, to a low incandescent heat Without changin its structural form, then treating the ore wit a current of gas produced from Wood until the impurities and deleterious compounds are removed, and then discharging the heated material into Water. y

5. The process of reducing the contents of an ore whlch consists in heating the ore to a low incandescent heat without changing its structural, form then treating the ore in its heated condition with currents of gas to remove the impurities and deleterious compounds, then discharging the heated mass into Water, then crus 'ng the material and then subjecting the products to currents of Water to remove the silicious material. 1

GEORGE F. RENDALL. 

